Thomas W. Bailey
Thomas W. Bailey, 88, of Terre Haute died at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 20, 2008, at Meadows Manor North. He was born in Arkansas on Aug. 7, 1919, to Henry F. Bailey and Mary E. Sluder Bailey. He retired from the former Quaker Maid where he worked in the shipping department. His wife, Rosalie Johnson Bailey, preceded him in death on May 8, 2005. He is survived by two sons, Thomas L. Bailey and wife Becky of Rosedale, and Steven R. Bailey and wife Kathy of Texas; a brother, Earl S. Bailey of Arkansas; his grandchildren, Robin Rice and husband Scott, Birch Bailey, Betsy Leslie and husband Dan, Ryan Bailey, Brian Bailey, and Michael Bailey; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by brothers, Charles, Emery, Elmer and Lester Bailey; and sisters, Gladys Johnson and Zelphy Foster. He was a Navy veteran of World War II, serving in the Southwest Pacific Theatre with the Seabees. His memberships included Terre Haute First Church of the Nazarene, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 972, and he was a former member of Southside Evening Optimist Club. Funeral services are 11 a.m. Saturday at DeBaun Springhill Chapel, 85 E. Springhill Drive, with the Rev. Ryan Bailey, a grandson, officiating. Burial will be at Westlawn Cemetery in Farmersburg, with VFW Post 972 conducting military rites. Visitation is 4 to 8 p.m. Friday.

This is my darling great Uncle Wayne. He went to be with the Lord this week. Although it makes me sad to know that I won't hear his happy voice call me Baby Doll anymore, I am rejoicing in the fact that his days spent in the misery of ill health are over. Uncle Wayne always told the most hilarious stories from his childhood. He hated going to school in the one room schoolhouse in Arkansas, so he would get up very early & go skunk hunting. Once he got himself a fat skunk, he would generously apply skunk fat to the steam radiators in the building. You can imagine the odiferousness of the school building once those radiators started heating up. Yep, school would get called off & he couldn't have been a happier boy! He was married to my Aunt Rosalie for more years than I even know. Even though she passed away several years ago, he still referred to her as his 'Sweetheart.' They used to have a great house in the country with a huge garden & a deep, skinny finger of a lake behind their home. That's where I took my first swim in natural water rather than pool water. I was about three years old & I just jumped right off the dock. I think I about gave my parents a heart attack, but I (vaguely) remember enjoying myself, splashing around in that green, slimy water. I spent the rest of the afternoon wrapped up in a bath towel while Aunt Rosalie washed my clothes.

Since last Memorial Day I have lost two uncles. As we go about our holiday activities they won't be there. That reality makes me sad, but knowing that they are in heaven in the presence of our Lord more than soothes my soul. Thank God they are no longer suffering. Thank God they are forgiven through Christ & enjoying the benefits of being joint heirs with Him. Thank God for my wonderful family.

Like A Good Neighbor...

I have had State Farm insurance ever since I became a driver. It has been a fairly friendly relationship & they also cover several other policies for me. Recently I received a statement that let me know what my car insurance premium would be for the next six months. They had incorporated all of the changes to my policy from moving and adding homeowner's insurance, etc. The very next day I received a check from State Farm for over $400! I was a little confused. So today I called & asked my super nice agent to check it out for me. I was worried that my homeowner's payment had gotten applied to the wrong policy or something crazy like that. He did some digging around & discovered that the corporate people are doing a huge audit to determine that all policyholders have received the discounts they are eligible for. It appears that I was gypped the multi-car discount for two years while I was living with my parents. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??? What a blessing - to get a whopping check like that out of the blue & then to find out that I get to keep it!!! Jehovah Jireh. Sometimes I feel like the Lord is just loving on me more than I can stand. And I'm so convicted because I don't deserve one bit of it.

My Momma

This is my Momma. She is a very smart lady & she has accomplished many wonderful things in her lifetime - raising 3 kids, grandmothering 4 grandkids, taking care of my dad, reaching high goals with her career & education...you get the idea. Very intelligent, my mom (& I think she's really pretty, too!). So I just had to tell you about a blonde moment she had last night on the way home from church. We have to cross a river to get from there to here so it's kind of like countryside, river-y bottoms type of area that we drive through. Last night we're driving along & I commented that I could see a deer. My intelligent Momma's response, "A real one?" Ummm...yeah.
Love you, Mom!

I know, I know...

the promised updates are slow in coming, aren't they? I have now gotten all the pics loaded onto the computer so maybe I can make a little more progress now. Just to keep you baited, I plan to fill you in on my house progress, I have some great pics from Easter & the kid's egg hunt at Great Pa & Great Ma's house, Madison's birthday, & Aidan's birthday. The fun is just beginning! Oh, & one thing I forgot to tell you about the Race - I'm an official die hard runner because I lost a toe nail! I know that's gross but it's a rite of passage for runners (or so I'm told; really I'm just kinda worried about sandal season!). But as the t-shirt says, "toe nails are for wimps!"

Update #1

The RACE! Two weeks ago I was really dreading the Indy Mini Marathon. I'm not sure why; I think it might of had something to do with several facts - I was going to run the whole thing alone, the longest distance I had run was 5 miles (although I was regularly walking much longer distances), & our plans for accommodations were really last minute. In the end, everything pulled together really nicely & we all had a blast. I drove over to Indy with Autumn & her co-worker/friend Jessica. We stayed with a couple that Jessica knew (she is the ultimate networker; I'm totally impressed by her people skills). They had a fabulous huge house & we were all very comfortable & were able to get a wonderful night's rest. The next morning it was off to the race! I was a little anxious about the time I was going to have to wait in the corral before I got to the start line. I was all the way back in corral U which meant that it took about 29 minutes to get to the start. I am not a crowd person. I get really antsy when I can't move without bumping into someone. And I am super protective of my personal space. Those were the longest 28 minutes of the whole race for me!

I had come up with a little strategy for running. I knew that I could easily run at least five miles. So my plan was to go at least that far before I hit any of the pits or before I started walking. Last year I hit every pit & had to stop to go to the bathroom 2 or 3 times. That was a mistake I did not want to repeat. I ran the first 5 & felt pretty good. So the next goal I had was to run all the way around the Speedway track. I knew that once I had reached that goal I was well over half way through. I wore my Baby G wrist watch & used the stop watch feature all through the race. I'm not sure when I decided it was important but I determined that I wasn't going to walk. I was just going to keep running no matter what. I was willing to let the pace slide if I had to, but I was keeping a close eye on that as well thanks to my Baby G. I was also carrying my cell phone (to make sure I could meet up with everyone after the race - no, I'm really not that psycho about having my phone with me all the time!) & my sister sent me a very encouraging text about mile 10 that gave me just the boost I needed to finish up strong. I completed the race in 2 hours 15 minutes with an average 10:22 mile. Definitely a personal best & I was thoroughly pleased. I think I have discovered that if I want to run the race to have fun I'd best bring a friend. If I want to run the race for a good finish time I'd best run alone. All in all a wonderful experience!

After the race we cleaned up & then headed to P.F. Chang's for dinner. I had never been there before & it didn't disappoint! Great food & wonderful company. I have picture here of Autumn holding her niece Audrey, me, Abby (Autumn's sister) holding her daughter Adeline, & Jessica. Autumn, Abby, & Jessica all did a fabulous job in the race, too! I'm excited for next year & for the next race I run in - yet to be determined!

So that's the scoop on the race. I've been pretty lazy since & I've only been running once. I'm hoping to go a couple of times this weekend though.

And by the way, here's a shout out to Anonymous...who are you???

Just a Little Teaser...

To all my devoted readers out there (yes, all 3 of you) ;-) I am planning A Colossal Update that will bring you up to speed with what all has been going on in my life. Let me tell you, there have been some busy days! But through it all the Lord has been very good to provide, encourage me, & give me the strength I need. So stay tuned! Hopefully within the next 72 hours you will get to see & read the rest of the story!

Earthquakes & Hot Seats

Wow, this has been a strange day. I was awake this morning at about 5:40. I had just gotten back into bed after hitting the snooze button (I can't help myself, ok?) when I heard this horrible noise that sounded like a huge dog was running through the house. Then my bed began to move - I had the funniest thoughts running through my head. What was going on? Did a big animal just jump onto my bed? That sounded like the wind but there's no wind blowing...it was an earthquake. I've actually experienced an earthquake once before. It was 20 years ago & all three of us kids were sitting in the back seat of the old Maverick. Andy was 15, Beth was 12, & I was 10. We were sitting at a red light when the shaking hit & Dad accused us of not being still in the backseat. Us kids were like, whatever - we didn't move the car. Then we heard about the earthquake on the news. Such a strange feeling to be moved around like that. I've also been a bit worried b/c I did not choose earthquake insurance on my home owner's policy. Now I wonder, was that a mistake???
And the hot seats. Each day here at the nuclear pharmacy we go through the restricted area doing what we call 'wipe & survey' tests. The wipe test consists of just wiping a piece of paper towel over surfaces & then putting the wipe in a machine that tests to see if radioactivity is present. The survey test is just moving a Geiger counter over different surfaces to see if there is radioactivity present. Basically we have to check for contamination daily. On Friday we test our vehicles & the unrestricted areas as well. I got that job this morning & I was buzzing through the "swipes & slurveys" (that's what I like to call them) when I discovered that two chairs in our break room were reading a little bit hot. Hmmm...I had actually sat in one of them a little bit earlier. So I told my boss & we did a couple more surveys & wipes & pinpointed a little more clearly where the contamination was. I want to assure you that it was nothing major. Just a little hotness. So then we all lined up at the survey meter to check out our hineys. There's nothing like waving a Geiger counter over your posterior end! The real mystery is that no one had hot pants, shoes, or hands. We haven't been able to tell how the activity was transferred. Very interesting. Don't I have a fascinating job?
My house closing is in less than an hour...anybody else out there as excited as me? I have never written a check for such a huge amount in my entire life - & I kinda hope I never do it again! Stay tuned for more...